#19- "Godzilla vs Megalon" (1973)

In my haste to rank the Godzilla Movies, I have made several mistakes, and have done my best to correct them along the way, but this one takes the cake I think. My initial rankings had Megalon as high as 15th or 16th on the list mainly due to the nostalgia of the movie, as it was probably one of the first three Godzilla movies I had ever watched as a kid. However, re-watching it now, I realize that I messed up with this ranking. Hopefully this doesn't sacrifice the legitimacy of the entire countdown for my readers, but this movie should realistically be ranked around 25 or 26. Yes, it's that bad. The plot is ramshackle, with an emphasis on underground nuclear testing disturbing an Atlantis-esque society hidden from our view deep beneath the surface of the Earth. Their leader is a hairy chested white guy who leads a cult following of dancing girls who appear to wear giant oversized condoms on their heads. This underground society releases Megalon to the surface, to destroy the world and punish us for our irresponsible ways. Thrown into this mix is a trio of characters, 2 guys who appear to be best friends, a young boy, probably one of the twos son. They live in a technologically advanced house where everything appears as buttons and gizmos and they have a robot named Jet Jaguar, pictured above, who can increase his size magically and fly like superman. Megalon destroys some stuff, Jet Jaguar goes and gets Godzilla from monster island, and they return to fight Megalon, who gets some help from Gigan. The action is actually good once you get to the final battle, and that is what sticks most memorably in my mind. To me, that doesn't drag the movie down, it's the horrid dubbing, characters, and pacing of the film that makes it tough to watch. It takes Godzilla forever to arrive and help, he's pretty much only in the final battle at the end of the movie. It's tough to write so critically about this film since it's one of my childhood favorites, and that I've ranked it higher than it actually should be, so here are some reasons why it can stand its ground this high on the list. Godzilla is in his purest form in terms of being a hero and appealing to children. When he shows up to help Jet Jaguar, you can't help but cheer. Jet Jaguar is an awesome side kick for the Big G even though he might be a rip off of Ultraman. Gigan is a cool bad guy to pair with Megalon, and the tag team final battle is enjoyable. Godzilla unleashes this awesome tail slide kangaroo kick late in the battle while Jet Jaguar holds down Megalon, one of his fanciest moves. Also, the scenes where Jet Jaguar and Godzilla interact are awesome, culminating in a handshake between the two once the Earth is saved. I would venture to say that for any kid, this Godzilla movie would be a lot higher on the countdown due to its emphasis towards their enjoyment, but for an adult it falls far short. You don't even know what the hell these bad guys are doing as they keep invading the toy house where the guys made Jet Jaguar. Because of these two dramatically different spectrums, Megalon can fit right in reasonably at #19, shading towards the lower end of the countdown.

For whatever reason, a movie poster for Godzilla vs Megalon depicts the monsters fight on top of the World Trade Center.

The famous Godzilla tail slide attack.